Please take a look at Articles on self-defense/conflict/violence for introductions to the references found in the bibliography page.

Please take a look at my bibliography if you do not see a proper reference to a post.

Please take a look at my Notable Quotes

Hey, Attention on Deck!

Hey, NOTHING here is PERSONAL, get over it - Teach Me and I will Learn!


When you begin to feel like you are a tough guy, a warrior, a master of the martial arts or that you have lived a tough life, just take a moment and get some perspective with the following:


I've stopped knives that were coming to disembowel me

I've clawed for my gun while bullets ripped past me

I've dodged as someone tried to put an ax in my skull

I've fought screaming steel and left rubber on the road to avoid death

I've clawed broken glass out of my body after their opening attack failed

I've spit blood and body parts and broke strangle holds before gouging eyes

I've charged into fires, fought through blizzards and run from tornados

I've survived being hunted by gangs, killers and contract killers

The streets were my home, I hunted in the night and was hunted in turn


Please don't brag to me that you're a survivor because someone hit you. And don't tell me how 'tough' you are because of your training. As much as I've been through I know people who have survived much, much worse. - Marc MacYoung

WARNING, CAVEAT AND NOTE

The postings on this blog are my interpretation of readings, studies and experiences therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. The content surrounding the extracts of books, see bibliography on this blog site, are also mine and mine alone therefore errors and omissions are also mine and mine alone and therefore why I highly recommended one read, study, research and fact find the material for clarity. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter. See the bibliography for information on the books. Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.


Note: I will endevor to provide a bibliography and italicize any direct quotes from the materials I use for this blog. If there are mistakes, errors, and/or omissions, I take full responsibility for them as they are mine and mine alone. If you find any mistakes, errors, and/or omissions please comment and let me know along with the correct information and/or sources.



“What you are reading right now is a blog. It’s written and posted by me, because I want to. I get no financial remuneration for writing it. I don’t have to meet anyone’s criteria in order to post it. Not only I don’t have an employer or publisher, but I’m not even constrained by having to please an audience. If people won’t like it, they won’t read it, but I won’t lose anything by it. Provided I don’t break any laws (libel, incitement to violence, etc.), I can post whatever I want. This means that I can write openly and honestly, however controversial my opinions may be. It also means that I could write total bullshit; there is no quality control. I could be biased. I could be insane. I could be trolling. … not all sources are equivalent, and all sources have their pros and cons. These needs to be taken into account when evaluating information, and all information should be evaluated. - God’s Bastard, Sourcing Sources (this applies to this and other blogs by me as well; if you follow the idea's, advice or information you are on your own, don't come crying to me, it is all on you do do the work to make sure it works for you!)



“You should prepare yourself to dedicate at least five or six years to your training and practice to understand the philosophy and physiokinetics of martial arts and karate so that you can understand the true spirit of everything and dedicate your mind, body and spirit to the discipline of the art.” - cejames (note: you are on your own, make sure you get expert hands-on guidance in all things martial and self-defense)



“All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.” - Montaigne


I am not a leading authority on any one discipline that I write about and teach, it is my hope and wish that with all the subjects I have studied it provides me an advantage point that I offer in as clear and cohesive writings as possible in introducing the matters in my materials. I hope to serve as one who inspires direction in the practitioner so they can go on to discover greater teachers and professionals that will build on this fundamental foundation. Find the authorities and synthesize a wholehearted and holistic concept, perception and belief that will not drive your practices but rather inspire them to evolve, grow and prosper. My efforts are born of those who are more experienced and knowledgable than I. I hope you find that path! See the bibliography I provide for an initial list of experts, professionals and masters of the subjects.

Martial Self-Defense and Creativity

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

Who remembers their sensei talking about creativity in martial arts, especially in the self-defense martial disciplines? Creativity in a lot of martial arts is pretty much suppressed because in most cases that martial system relies heavily on conformity and the specifics of questions and answers. In self-defense martial arts one must conform inadvertently to the self-defense technique drill model that is very limited then there are those questions asked in answering what is necessary to TEST and Qualify for rank, i.e., promotions. It models many of our school systems that are also formulated toward conformity and the question/answer model of testing. Creativity is about non-conformity so that questions and answers become more diversified, i.e., allowing for open-minded answers that involve variety, etc. 

Creativity is about divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is about development in varied and different directions. It is a thought process whereby the student generates within themselves creative ideas through the exploration of as many solutions as can be generated. When you are stuck in a more conformity model of drills and so on without being allowed to “diverge” toward other possibilities you lose out on developing a more creative way of applying self-defense. 

In reality one needs to develop yin-yang, a principle of philosophy, by training, developing, applying both divergent and convergent thinking. You have to have correct answers to standard questions so you can build up your knowledge base. Knowledge is a factor critical to creative thinking but there are, like the balance point of yin-yang, limits where one or the other suffer if exceeded to far.

One factor that alludes toward the “Adrenal stress condition reality-based training scenario” model is creativity flows from action. Actions tend to stimulate our brain cells and get the creative juices flowing. If you are taught with creativity in mind your brain is always working to find unique and possible answers where in a more conformity question and singular answer model you just memorize an answer and that is all you need. Here is the rub tho, you need to develop creativity outside the pressures of adrenal stress conditioned reality-based training but you need to TEST that creativity and using the “Adrenal stress condition reality-based training scenario” model is the best way. 

Now, as to the process of teaching, learning and applying our creativity in the martial discipline of self-defense, that is a whole complete article that should lead toward many books and articles on creativity. Fair warning because although knowledge is critical to development of creativity it also can hinder that same creativity if one packs in too much knowledge and information especially if one leans heavily toward specific detailed “trivia” type knowledge. A good example is a teacher and practitioner who has encoded, cataloged and trained thousands of “Bunkai” to just one technique. It comes down to when action and adrenal stress hit in an attack the practitioner has way too many choices that come from analytical thinking processes and encoding while the more creative process was suppressed and lost. It is our creativity trained and practiced along with adrenal stress conditioned reality-based training that will give us what we need to, “Stop the threat, end the damage and remain in the self-defense square.” 

Quotes of Inspiration from Robert Ringer’s article, “Creativity.” 

“To be creative, you have to think divergently, which entails considering many solutions. And that, in turn, requires you to disregard conventional wisdom and consider far-ranging possibilities.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“Studies have demonstrated that the left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for convergent thinking, while the right hemisphere is the home of divergent thinking.“ - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“Creativity becomes suppressed by a system that values conformity and specific answers to specific questions.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“Knowledge is another factor that is critical to creative thinking, in at least two ways. First, because the left brain is the cerebral filing cabinet for specific knowledge, it keeps the creative right brain from running wild. We’ve all known people who come up with an idea a minute, but most of their ideas either fail or never get off the ground. Usually, it’s a result of their lacking enough specific knowledge in their brain to silence their creative right brain and tell it to move on to the next idea.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

AND

“Second, and even more important, if your left brain is overflowing with knowledge, your right brain has access to the material it needs to be creative. Good ideas and concepts are only as good as the knowledge upon which they are based.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“But it gets even trickier. There is convincing evidence that too much specialized knowledge can actually inhibit creativity.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“It's much easier to be creative when you’re not under pressure. That’s why it’s a good idea to get away from your office periodically and relax. Some of my best ideas have come to me while cruising at thirty-five thousand feet — no telephone, no e-mails, no projects piling up around me. Vacations, the theater, attending conferences, and just going for long walks all serve the same purpose.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“Develop the habit of grabbing hold of random, creative thoughts and quickly getting them down on paper. Nothing frustrates me more than realizing that a great idea I came up with yesterday is gone because I was so certain I’d remember it that I didn’t take the time to write it down.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“Creativity flows from action. Action stimulates your brain cells and gets your creative juices flowing. What happens when you take action is that the atoms in your brain increase the speed of their vibrations, which causes your “mental paradigm” to expand. And when that occurs, you begin to see new ideas, new concepts, and new possibilities that you may not have previously considered.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

“Employ your free will and force yourself to take action. And when you do, motivation is almost sure to follow.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity

Read the entire article by Mr. Ringer HERE


Bibliography (Click the link)

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